Ways to praise Valerie Jarrett in 'This Town'

A 33-point memo detailing ways to praise top White House aide Valerie Jarrett was sent out to staffers shortly after an unflattering profile of the adviser was published in The New York Times last year, the new book “This Town” by Mark Leibovich says.

“Valerie is someone who other people inside the building know they can trust. (need examples)” one bullet point said, according to an advance copy obtained by The Washington Post.

The book also says some White House employees believed Jarrett got Secret Service protection because she wanted to feel as important as David Axelrod, who was given protection after information about him was found on the man who opened fire at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington in 2009.

“While a high-profile White House official — especially an African-American woman, such as Jarrett — could legitimately be considered a more likely target than most, several West Wing officials I spoke to were dubious there had been any special threats against her,” Leibovich writes, according to an excerpt obtained by POLITICO. “They suspected, rather, that Jarrett asked the president to authorize a detail out of ‘earpiece envy.’ ‘The person Valerie felt threatened by was Axe,’ quipped one top aide.”

Leibovich’s book, which focuses on the “incestuous” nature of D.C. politics and media, is set to be released on July 16.